The attempted assassination of a former president and frontrunner to regain the White House, the subsequent Congressional hearings, a sitting president ending his bid for re-election, all these have combined to capture the attention of the American people.
For many others, suffering continues regardless of the news cycle.
Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 4 storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, did major damage in the Caribbean before wreaking havoc in the Houston area where more than 2.26 million customers from the city’s main power distributor had no electricity. The Houston Chronicle reported 22 lives lost, half of them heat-related.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency estimated that on Carriacou Island, in Grenada, at least 90 percent of homes and buildings were destroyed or severely damaged. There was widespread damage elsewhere in the Caribbean.
Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational Christian relief agency, has been assisting in both the Caribbean and in Texas. Regarding relief efforts in the Caribbean, “What we’re noticing is that no one else is down there,” Samaritan’s Purse COO Edward Graham said on Washington Watch Wednesday. “Because of the political season, it doesn’t get attention. People can’t fundraise and go, but God’s entrusted us with resources that we can go.”
Medical, tarping and … water
“We’ve been doing a lot of medical, a lot of tarping, a lot of water. It’s really helping these people get out and recover from these storms,” he said.
Samaritan’s Purse has more than 900 open work orders in Texas alone, Graham said. SP officials watched the storm from its early stages and started making plans to help in the Caribbean. “We were tracking, prepped and ready to go. We sent our DC-8, which is one of our cargo planes, down to Grenada three times, to Jamaica once. We take everything from tarps, solar lights, water filtration systems,” he said.
The group also sent a Tier 1 hospital, a facility that would receive the highest possible rating from a health insurance organization. Hospitals are judged on quality awareness, patient safety awareness and financial awareness. “We were asked to come in and supplement some of the destroyed medical systems. We were able to help and treat almost 700 patients, so far, then transfer them on for further medical care, those that needed more serious attention,” Graham said.
The Houston area had experienced a rainy month prior to Beryl’s arrival which led to severe flooding.
Samaritan’s Purse volunteers there have worked mostly to “muck out” homes and tarp roofs. “We help dry them out so we can quickly get homeowners back in there but also get through their insurance claims without further mold being developed,” Graham said.
Not forsaken, not forgotten
Volunteers and staff also share Jesus along the way. “Our volunteers go in there along with our Billy Graham rapid response chaplains, and they want people to know they’re not forsaken, not forgotten. God’s not angry with them, and God loves them. He loves them so much that He sent His son Jesus Christ who died on the cross. We get to share that message, but we get to meet the immediate need of those who are suffering,” Graham said.
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